You are invited to come along to the orchard between 11am and 3pm this Friday to enjoy the blossom and have a look around.
There will be the normal Friday Volunteer Group activities, or you can just pop in for a cup of tea and a chat.
The blossom started over a month earlier this year than the previous two, but fingers crossed it will still be looking good this week. Let's just hope it hasn't been too cold for the pollinating bees.
Find us here
We have a stall at Shipley Alternative Market on Saturday 6th May.
The market is Kirgate Centre and is open from 11am- 3pm.
We will be selling apple chutneys and jams, and barbeque charcoal. As well as a range of stalls (previous markets have had stalls selling bread, books, prints, soaps, photograps, chocolate...) there is a cafe at the centre.
Hope to see you there.
The next Shaping Spaces Programme starts on Wednesday 3rd May and runs for 12 weeks.
The course runs on Wednesdays and Thursdays and is open to young people aged between 16 and 25. One day is practical environmental work, with the possibility of a horticulture accrediation. The other day focuses on personal development and employability skills.
If you, or anyone you know, is interested in the course please contact Rachel Deadman
[email protected]
01274 371303
We will continue to support Forest of Bradford through to the beginning of April.
On Friday 17th March we will be planting near Draughton, on the hills above Addingham.
We will also be joining Forest of Bradford on Friday 31st March and Friday 7th April. We wil be setting off at 9.30 am on both of these days so plaese arrive early. The next programme should be ready to distribute in the next couple of weeks.
Many thanks to shoppers at Otley Waitrose who have raised £386 to support managment work in the orchard.
It is much appreciated and very useful!
Thanks to everyone who ignored the weather on Sunday morning and decided to come to Apple Day. The reward was a lovely, and unexpectedly, sunny afternoon.
We hope you enjoyed your visit to the orchard. A number of people commented how much the trees have developed in recent years. So far we have harvested 597Kg of apples this year. I think we are likely to equal or exceed last year's harvest of 689Kg but 2013 wil remain the record at 867Kg.
You can view the orchard harvesting record here
If you want some apples - the varieties we have will all store for two or more months - please get in touch. We do not have suitable storage so we want them to go to good homes now to ensure minimum wastage. We are open to ideas about distribution, but we are suggesting mixed boxes of 5 or 10 Kg, for £10 or £20 respectively.
The Keswick Codlin (a cooker) need using now so happy to supply these at a reduced rate. You can puree and freeze, or make fruit leather, or jam, or jelly, or pies, or cakes.....
pip pip
It will be held at Bowling Park Community Orchard on Sunday 16th October from midday until 4pm.
We will be pressing apples to make fresh juice. Please bring along your spare apples to add to the press.
There will be horticultural advice and a chance to buy apples from the orchard and jams and chutneys made from our fruit.
Bring your friends and family to join in with the games, activities and enjoy a variety of fruity cakes and treats.
Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust have given funding to Bradford Apple Group to support practical management of the orchard.
This grant, directed towards BEES as managers of the orchard, first supported some of the summer work; restrictive pruning of the cordons and espaliers, mulching the trees to control the vegetation growth and mowing the paths through the grass.
Have a look at the conservation volunteer page to see where the task programme will take us over the next couple of months.
Unlucky for some!
Sorry, we have had to cancel Friday's trip to St Ives. We will go in June instead.
Sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment.
